I'll Save the Game
by it'sallaboutdance8
Summary: Elena's life was perfect, she was the number one female volleyball player and had a loving family. But it all changed when her parents and aunt died in a car crash. Now she is living with her abusive uncle and lost almost everything she loved. But she still has her favorite sport: volleyball and she a has a gorgeous new coach Damon. Can he help save her from all of her demons?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own TVD! If i did it would be all delena all the time!**

**A.N.: Hello anyone who is reading this! Thank you! This is my first fic so I am very excited! Please read and review with anything you liked or didn't like to let me know if I should continue or not! I hope you enjoy :)**

Elena POV

I shot out of my bed, shaking with gut wrenching sobs from my most recent nightmare. I felt like it was all happening again, they were dying right in front of my very eyes as I realized there is a good chance I might end up going with them. I feel the water surround me and fill my lungs, and then everything just goes black, I don't remember anything else. Well that is until I get to the hospital with a stranger telling that my parents and closest aunt were dead and that a random guy was able to pull me out so I got to live with everything, all of the guilt and sadness, afterwards.

Wiping off all of my tears, I looked at the clock realizing it was only 3:45. Deciding that there was no way I would be able to get anymore sleep, I got up and took a very quick shower, not wanting to risk waking up John or Isobel. I got dressed quickly and put on some light make-up, not really caring what I looked like because I would most likely sweat it all of later anyways. I left my room with my gym bag in hand and stopped to check on Jeremy. I looked into his room and saw that he wasn't there. He was probably over Bonnie's or Matt's. I wasn't mad that he wasn't home or didn't tell me, because I knew that if I had somewhere else to stay I would've been long gone a while ago.

I grabbed my red apple and black coffee off the counter and out the door I went. Today was my first volleyball practice since the accident, and just to make things better I was getting a new coach because my old one, Marcus, moved. But on the upside I knew that my new coach was _amazing_ at volleyball because he was Damon Salvatore and when I say that I mean _the_ Damon Salvatore, gold medalist from the London Olympics, setter of the number one male volleyball team in the world. And luckily for me he also happens to be the most gorgeous person who has ever walked the planet.

As I walked into the gym, I saw him canoodling with the front desk lady. _Typical _I thought. I stood right next to him for about a minute and he finally got annoyed and turned to me and drawled, "Can I help you with something?"

I gave out a little laugh and said, "Ya you can. I am Elena Gilbert, you're new student."

He stared at me for a couple of seconds thinking something over then responded, "Well let's go and start your warm up then."

I quickly said okay because I was embarrassed by the scrutiny of his gaze, and hurried to go get changed. Once I had on my blue spandex and tight black tank top, I looked in the mirror and saw all of the small cuts and bruises that littered my body. Some were from the accident others were more recent from things that happened at home. I finally mustered up my strength and muttered under my breath the usual mantra I say when things are tough, "Today will be different, it has to be. I will smile, and it will be believable. My smile will say, 'I'm, fine thank you.' I will no longer be the sad little girl who lost her parents. I will start fresh be someone new; it's the only way I'll make it through." With one last look in the mirror I shoved my things into the small gym locker.

I made my way out to the gym with my water bottle in hand and started to warm up. Damon slowly sauntered over to me. "If I understand correctly, your doctor said that you are still recovering and just getting back into the swing of things so we should take things slowly. Correct?" he asked.

I starred daggers at him. "I have absolutely no intentions of going 'slowly' because if you honestly think that slow will put me back to being number one in the nation then you have been sadly misinformed."

"Fine," he said, "we won't go slowly but how about carefully?"

"Whatever," I responded and I walked onto the court to start some drills.

We worked for a couple of hours and did millions of different exercises, some of them were easy but most of them were hard because I hadn't touched a volleyball for a couple of months. I do have to admit, Damon is a fantastic coach, maybe even better than Marcus, which I didn't think was even possible.

About 4 hours into the practice I finally decided to take one of Damon's offered breaks because I was beginning to feel fatigued. As I sat down on the bench the room started to sway a little bit and I felt really dizzy. Damon saw me pale and came quickly over to the bench. "Elena, are you okay?" he asked with worry in his voice and filling his eyes.

"Just dandy," I responded. I tried to stand but then I lost my balance and fell back onto the bench. All of the sudden everything went fuzzy and finally black.

Damon POV

When I first saw her, my first instinct was oh my god she beautiful. I mean I have seen her before, watched here play games in person and on the TV, but up close she is even more perfect. When I got the call to be her coach I knew I wanted to do it because she has so much potential, but I knew I had to go slow and steady because she was still healing. So when I saw her pale and start to shake I knew I had gone too far and should've forced her to take a break. I caught her before she fell and tried to get her to wake back up, but being her stubborn self she wouldn't. That's why I'm currently sitting in the nurse's office of the sports facility, getting interrogated by a very old nurse. But finally Elena started to move again.

"Well good morning sleepy head!" I said cheerfully.

"What happened? And why does my head hurt so much?" She asked back.

With that the nurse lady started to talk medical terms that I was not familiar with so I kind of zoned out. For the first time this whole day I noticed all of the cuts and bruises scattered her body. Shouldn't most of them have healed by now_? I'll have to ask her about that later_ I thought. Suddenly something caught my interest in their conversation.

"Now how is John treating you Elena?" the nurse asked. I saw fear momentarily flash through Elena's features but it was quickly masked with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

She quickly replied,"Oh, everything is great, just the usual stuff."

"Well you come to me if you need anything. Okay?"

"Of course," Elena stated quickly. I could tell she wanted to stop wherever that conversation was headed.

"Well I suggest you go home and get some rest, and then you should be good to go. Just make sure that tomorrow you eat more than just an apple before you go and have a rigorous practice!" The nurse chided.

"Okay I will. Thank you for helping me again, Annie," Elena stated as she tried to get up. I quickly got out of my chair to help her to her feet because she was still a little wobbly.

Once we got out of the office I looked Elena over to make sure that she was okay then said, "Go get your bags from the locker room, I'll clean up the gym then I will drive you home because you are in no condition to drive right now."

"But how will I get here tomorrow if I don't have my car?" she questioned me.

Well I guess I didn't think that part over. "I'll just pick you up again then."

"Okay, thanks," she said as she walked into the locker room.

Once everything was packed up, we walked out to the car. The ride home was relatively quiet. I was too busy thinking about the conversation about this 'John' guy to really try to talk to her. Once we got into Mystic Falls I asked for directions. When we pulled into her neighborhood I saw her stiffen beside me. "Oh crap," she muttered under her breath.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"Oh nothing, don't worry about it," she whispered wearily as we were pulling into her drive, "so pick me up at 6 tomorrow?"

"Ya sure that's fine," I responded. She climbed out of the car and toddled up to the porch then waved goodbye. I sat their thinking for a second, what exactly is she so afraid of in that house, and why the heck did I care so much about her. I mean come on I am Damon Salvatore the world's biggest player, why should I be worrying about a random 18 year old girl?

**I hope you liked it! Please review with your comments.**

**-D**


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N.: Hey guys! I was just so happy about your response to this that I decided to squeeze out another chapter tonight! Sadly finals are this week so I probably won't be able to write much more until Friday :( Please read and review! I am soo happy with the follows and smattering of reviews from the last chapter! You guys ROCK! Cookies to everyone! Anyways I will stop my ramblings now!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TVD, I am only stealing these fabulous characters from the lovely Julie whose b-day is today!**

Elena POV

As I we drove into my development, I finally realized how much shit I was going to be in once I got home. As soon as I stepped through the doors to my house, I wished more than anything in the world that my parents were still alive, that I didn't have to live with my abusive uncle John and his horrid wife Isobel, that my brother would come and talk to me more, but most of all I just wished things were _normal_ again.

I tried to stealthy make my way up the stairs without John noticing, but when the third step creaked he came running into the room. John watched me with his menacing blue eyes. "And what exactly do you think you are doing?" he asked, stepping closer to me. From this distance I could easily smell the alcohol on his breath and at this point I knew I was in trouble.

"I got sick at practice today so Annie and Damon made me come home early," I responded nonchalantly, hoping he wouldn't get mad. But you know when do things work in my favor? That's right they don't…

"Don't give me attitude young lady! This is my house and I pay for these lessons of yours and I can easily kick you out and take it all away!" he irritably replied. "You're lucky I haven't done it already, you ungrateful bitch. I'm surprised you're new coach can even stand to look at your ugly face!"

I stared him dead in the eyes as I said what I knew I should never tell a drunken John, "You can go to hell! I hate you! I wish my parents were still here!"

He stood there for a moment with a smirk on his face, and then he reached out and smacked me hard across the face. "Well we all know whose fault it is that they're not here, don't we?" he questioned giving me another hard slap across the face, then turning on his heel and walking out of the house, most likely to go to a bar.

Thankfully Isobel wasn't home so I didn't have to worry about the devil incarnate number two right now. I went over to the fridge to grab a blue ice-pack to put against my burning cheek. Unfortunately this had become a routine for me when John was drunk. Grabbing my phone, I texted Jeremy to see if he was coming home anytime soon, then I headed up to my room to do some homework. Sadly even though I'm one of the best female volleyball players I still have to graduate high school. But the upside is that I get a tutor three times a week so that all of the other days I can focus myself on the game.

After about three hours I finished all of my math and history work when I saw my iPhone light up, expecting a text from Jeremy, I was surprised to see it was a text from an unknown number that said: _Hey it's me, Damon, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay after what happened earlier today._ I laughed a little at his bluntness and replied: _Everything is a-okay at the home front. See you tomorrow at 6! _

I put all of my books away and then put on my pajama. Right when I was about to hit the sack I heard a knock on my bedroom door. Not wanting to get out of the warm solace of my bed I yelled "Come in!" to whoever was at the door. Thankfully it was just my dorky brother Jeremy. "Hey, what's up?" I asked once he came into my room.

"Oh you know nothing much, just the usual. Bonnie says hi by the way! How was your first day back at practice?" he inquired casually.

"Pretty good, although I did faint about four hours into it though… When I came home an hour and a half early from practice John was pretty pissed and knocked me around a bit but all is good now that you're back," I replied happily.

"Wow that looks pretty bad. I'm sorry I wasn't here to protect you 'Lena. I promise as soon as we are done with school, we'll be out of here," he said with great determination and protectiveness in his voice. "Well looks like you should be getting some rest. Night sis." He leaned down and gave me a hug and then sauntered out of the room.

"Night Jer, love you," I said quietly, and then I slipped into a fitful sleep full of havoc and nightmares.

The next morning I woke up with the same unpleasant start as the previous. I quickly took a shower and got dressed putting on a nice light purple tank top and black spandex with PINK yoga pants over-top. I tried fruitlessly to apply make-up to cover up the new bruises on my face but it was pointless. Finally I gave up grabbed my bag and an apple _and _a bowl of cheerios for breakfast. After cleaning up, I heard a car horn honk, so I grabbed my things and ran out the door.

"Good morning!" Damon greeted me with a huge smile on his face.

"Hey," I replied quietly putting my hood up so that he couldn't see my face, thus he couldn't see my bruise.

"Well what's got you in a pissy mood this morning, Little Miss Sunshine?" he questioned jokingly.

"Nothing," I replied not meeting his expecting gaze.

"Alrighty then! Well boy do I have some news for you! C-wait a minute… what happened to your face? Did someone punch you? Are you okay?" He asked at a million miles an hour while worry began to seep into his features and beautiful, crystal blue eyes.

"No, I was just being my usual clumsy self and got whacked on the cheek," I replied a little too quickly, still not meeting his intense stare.

"Are you sure you're fine?" he asked again. I quickly nodded my head wanting to get off the subject. "Okay then," he continued, "last night I got a call from the coach of my volleyball team and he said that he wants to see you work your magic in person during our game tonight! So what do you say, do you wanna join the big guys on the court?"

**I hope you enjoyed this small chapter! Please follow/fave and review if you can!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N: Hey! Sorry for the long wait. Stupid finals get in the way of_ everything! _I am completely floored by the response to this story! And you five that reviewed are beyond amazing! And everyone else that followed and favorited is super awesome too! Well anyways I hope you like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own any of these cool characters, they all belong to L.J. and Julie.  
**

Chapter 3

I was completely shocked. He actually wanted ME, boring 18 year old, to play with the best male league in the world? And I felt like even if I said yes to this amazing opportunity, I would be out of place on the court and would most likely be crushed by the other team. Damon still waiting for my answer saw the shock and worry in my brown doe eyes and quickly tried to reassure me when he said, "Don't worry I will be setting most of the time, so you should be alright when you are hitting, and don't you dare try to tell me that you aren't good enough to play with my team."

I took a deep breath and tried to rationalize with myself, and finally came to the conclusion that this could actually be a good thing for my volleyball career. "Alright, I will do it," I sighed out. The smile on his face was overwhelming and very contagious because soon enough I could feel a smile tugging on my lips.

"This is going to be awesome!" he exclaimed with a boisterous and triumphant laugh afterwards. He started to ramble on about how much fun it will be and how excited he is for me to meet all of the guys on his team. Zoning out a little, I wondered whether or not I should tell John what I was doing tonight. I figured it would best probably tell him in hopes he won't be as mad when I show up late, and take my chances on whether or not he will show up to watch the game. All of the sudden I was forced out of my thoughts when I heard a snapping noise right in front of my face. "Hello? Anyone in there, Little Miss Dreamland?" he asked jokingly.

"What? Ya, did you say something?" I asked.

"Ya I was just talking about how hemochromatosis was actually started by the Black Plague and what your thoughts on this were. No you silly girl. I was just asking you if you ate more today for breakfast, so we don't have another fainting incident like we did yesterday."

"Oh right," I responded lamely, "I had an excellent breakfast today don't worry about me."

We were just pulling into the parking lot and I was gathering all of my things and got out of the car and was about to go to the trunk to grab my gym bag but was surprised to see that Damon had already grabbed it and was heading into the building.

Practice was pretty normal, in most intensive purposes of the word. Damon pushed me a little harder today than he did yesterday after I assured him that I was perfectly fine and wanted to be pushed so I could become stronger and more prepared for tonight's game. We did my normal warm ups, then we ran four miles around the track on the second floor of the gym, next we worked on my serves, and we finally rallied for a while. Some people might think that rallying would be a fun and simple exercise with their coaches, but trust me, Damon took it to a whole new level; putting the volleyball in the most awkward places and making me dive all around the floor to save the plays.

As I was drinking the rest of my water bottle after practice, Damon came up and stole it out of my hands. "Hey! I was drinking that!" I complained.

"Too bad! It's mine now," he joked, sticking his tongue out at me.

"Such a child," I chided. I started to walk away out to the parking lot, but he grabbed my wrist. I flinched because it had become my natural reaction with all of the things John has done, and became completely frozen. Then Damon dropped my hand and came around to the front of me with concern and question filling his eyes.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked quietly. I nodded my head hastily. Then he hesitated for a second and continued with what he was originally going to ask me, "Do you want me to drive you tonight? Since you have never been to the court we are playing at."

"Ya sure that's fine," I responded swiftly.

"Okay I will see you at 5:30 then Elena. And hey," he said looking directly into my eyes, "If you ever need me for _anything_, no matter when or what it is, you can tell me and call me. I want you to trust me, Elena," he said with full sincerity.

"Ya of course, Damon," I said quickly and I broke his intense gaze and hurried out of the massive gym.

On the way home I kept replaying what he had told me in the lobby. I surely hoped he did not figure out what was happening with John. I didn't need any more pity from people than I already had. People just saw me as _poor Elena who lost her parents and aunt so young; _I didn't need any extra sympathy.

I finally made it home, if that's even what it's called anymore, and saw that Isobel was the only one there. Well at least she's a little better than John is. I walked into the kitchen and saw that she was in the family room watching a new stupid reality show. "Hello, Isobel," I greeted as politely as possible.

"Oh great, the trash is back. What do you want now?" she demanded roughly, "and hurry it up. Can't you see I'm watching TV?"

"I just came to let you know that I have an extra game tonight at Splash Zone courts, so I will be home later than usual," I responded quickly.

She was quiet for a second the drawled, "Well maybe we will just have to come and watch this game of yours."

"Oh ya okay that's fine," I responded tightly.

Well shit.

**I hope you all enjoyed it! Please follow/favorite and review! You guys rock!**

**-Dakota **


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